WARNING: CONTAINS HOUSE OF THE DRAGON EPISODE ONE SPOILERS
Viewers have been left speechless as they tuned in to the very first episode of House of the Dragon this evening, with even the biggest Game of Thrones fans finding they were totally unprepared for THAT moment. Yes, you know the one I’m talking about.
Of course, GoT wasn’t exactly known for shying away from violence, but it seems its long-awaited prequel is already setting the tone for a season of brutality to rival David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’s much-loved show.
In one scene, we saw Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) sweeping through King’s Landing with the City Watch – looking nice and dapper in their fancy new gold cloaks, no less.
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Despite failing to notify his brother, King Viserys (Paddy Considine), Daemon was determined to cleanse the streets of the city’s worst offenders, tasking his men with the vicious job of taking out any criminals... using any means necessary.
This includes a suspected ‘rapist’, whose penis is hacked off before being thrown onto a slab for all to see – the camera kindly taking a moment to linger in a close-up on the bloody, detached member.
Naturally, this left some viewers feeling more than just a little unsettled, with one viewer tweeting: "WHY DID THEY MAKE ME SEE A SEVERED PENIS???"
Someone else wrote: "Well that s**t escalated quickly. #HOTD. Those criminals got worked. Hands cut off and a penis LOL."
Others, meanwhile, were just happy to see a return to that old school Game of Thrones energy, with one writing: "Twenty min into the House of the Dragon a dude gets his d**k cut off. GAME OF THRONES WE BACK BABY."
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Another agreed: "So far we’ve seen d**ks chopped, hands removed and head roll, not even at the 30 minute mark. We back baby!"
Some also found themselves relishing in Smith's Daemon, with one saying he has to be the 'most badass targaryen casting of all time'.
Many viewers may have also had echoes of Theon Greyjoy’s barbaric torture in GoT back in the day, but that left at least a few things to our imagination.
On this occasion, however, we get the whole grisly picture – a sight that is no doubt just one of many in store for us this season, which will chart the bloodiest civil war in the history of the Seven Kingdoms.
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Set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, the new 10-part series is based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood.
Along with Considine’s King Viserys, the fifth king of the Targaryen dynasty to rule the Seven Kingdoms, and Smith’s Prince Daemon, the cast also includes the likes of Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Olivia Cooke as her best friend Alicent Hightower.
The show also features the likes of Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel, Rhys Ifans, Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, and Savannah Steyn.
UK viewers can catch House of the Dragon on Sky Atlantic and NOW from 22 August, while the show will be available in the US on HBO and HBO Max.
Topics: TV and Film
Jess Hardiman